NEW HEALTH MINISTER WANTS 12 DEPUTIES: WE IDENTIFY THEM
The new Minister of Health is a real professional. We know that and we congratulate him on his appointment to succeed his former boss. We hope he would create a "conducive" atmosphere in the ministry as we fight Ebola. Dr Abubakarr Fofanah has told parliament that he needs 12 deputy ministers to join him wage war on Ebola. Well, we don't know how he intends to deploy them to the dangerous frontlines of this war but here's a list of Deputy Ministers who we think really need to do some work now and wake from their long slumbers:
Deputy Minister of Education - With schools closed and the teacher verification exercise finally grinding to a halt after seven years, the Deputy Minister is definitely redundant. Send him to Bonthe to ensure the one confirmed case does not rise.
Dept. Minister of Agriculture - Since this is a limited deployment, there's no wahala. But this particular deputy should be back at base soon because he may find himself in the big man's seat by Christmas. For the time being send him off to the Western Area Rural where the numbers are looking grimmer by the day.
Deputy Minister of Local Government - With a strong and powerful minister like Queen of Kono, who needs a Deputy Minister. Send the man to the front - as the numbers keep rising in Tonkolili.
Deputy Minister of Labour - If we follow the government's own performance tracking document, we wonder what the minister himself is doing there right now. Why do we really have a deputy minister in this ministry. Let him earn his money against Ebola. Send him to the epicentre in Kailahun. badly needed there.
Deputy Minister of Social Welfare - Well, he is not returning to the studio soon for another Ebola calypso so he will be very useful out in Pujehun. At least, he will stop meddling in SLUDI matters for three months.
Deputy Minister of Youth - What's the Deputy Minister's name please? She should be useful and less involved in a fight with her boss. Deploy her to Bombali.
Minister of Tourism - For this posting we really want the minister himself. With all tourists gone, the beaches covered in smelly seaweed and the minister blaming everybody else but himself for the paralysis in his ministry, he will be kept busy and worthy in Koinadugu so it safeguards it zero-case level. The last minister there described the place as "useless." Hahahahahaha.
Deputy Minister of Political Affairs - What is the mandate of this ministry? Ok, let's wait for Mohamed Kallon to be slapped again. Aaaahhhhh, the deputy minister has a big job to do in Kono so send him there with strict warning to stay clear of chasing young people and forcibly conscripting him into his camp using the police.
Deputy Minister of Energy (2) - The former US army Major of a minister has neither generated nor distributed electricity since he came to office. All he does time and again is use illegal means to get out of the gridlock at Lumley in the evenings. We've witnessed that Operation Anaconda type manoeuvre twice. Send him to Kenema to help out as the district has overtaken Kailahun in the area of case fatality.
Deputy Minister of Lands - With land-grabbing and all the noise-making all over the place, you would expect the young man to be very busy. But the Ebola problem has caused some land grabbers to realise the futility of their greed. Let's deploy the guy to Bo. There's a nice Volleyball court at the Bo Club for him to spike from the white line in the evenings.
Deputy Minister of Information - Well there are many government spokesmen and so-called outreach coordinators these days - even though they keep contradicting themselves - and the minister himself enjoys doing a lot of talking. So why keep the Deputy Minister in one place? Let's re-assign him to the anti-Ebola campaign in Freetown.
Deputy Minister of Water Resources - The ministry was unbelievably declared the best not too long ago. We have still not recovered from that shock. Let the Deputy Minister get his hands dirty for once. Please. Send him to Bo where the figures have been spiking especially lately.
This is our idea of the political team that should lead the fight against Ebola. But even though the health minister asked for twelve we hereby ask him to absorb a thirteenth - or may be as a stand-by:
Deputy Minister of Finance: She should be kept busy so she does not go to Lungi again to fight with another woman over a minister. By the way whatever happened to that case the police claimed they were investigating! Anyway...send the deputy minister to Port Loko where Lungi airport is situated.
EBOLA LOCKDOWN AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR LIVELIHOOD
The general view on the streets of Freetown is that, for now at least, short of killing or imprisoning people, the government can pretty much do whatever they wish if only to defeat Ebola. And that includes the coming three-day lockdown. We've heard people calling for 21 days in fact. Phew!
Some beggars with disability are complaining that their usual Friday expedition near mosques was never considered when the government took the decision to close the country down. Well, for now, we cannot help but have some sympathy for these of our compatriots. But frankly, is that the way to make a living? They always tell us that "disability is not inability", so why exploit your physical condition in this way? Anyway, that's a debate for tomorrow.
And somehow we blame, in part, that Karaoke minister for believing in the idea of creating a colony of physically-challenged people along Pademba Road, to be pitied by the rest of society. That's a way of avoiding his government's responsibility to create a condition where every Sierra Leonean can live in dignity in their own home with their family.
On Sunday too, churches will miss a lot. Our friends at WALLS OF JERICHO EVANGELISTIC MINISTRIES and AMOS AT BETHEL CHURCH are thinking about all the envelops they gave to well wishers for their annual Men and Women of the year programme. Last year it was fantastic. It's not likely that all the people invited would be available even if the programme was rescheduled to the week after the lockdown. All unveilings and dedications are definitely on hold. When we next close the country down for 21 days, we expect some of our friends in Freetown's many new churches to shout at the top of their voices. Maybe the government should compensate for the loss of earnings all round. Just an idea.
TELL THE COUNTRY HOW MUCH EBOLA HAS AFFECTED THE ECONOMY
Listen, we have heard a lot about the economy being this and that from all over the place. Well even from people who have no knowledge of how the economy works. This time, we want real figures. For example, even when things were normal, Lungi Airport was one of the most idle airports even in West Africa. Now, with just Air Maroc and Brussels Airlines keeping some small operation here, how much is Lungi Airport losing on a daily basis? Why can't the people who run the airport speak out?
The airport is just one revenue earning institution, what about the others? Maybe the Chamber of Commerce should take the business temperature of the nation now. Playing safe only hurts us more and more. In fact, why can't NRA tell us something with real figures? There's no shame here, we are in a difficult situation. In this emergency, that could even help lower expectations. Make the figures available please.
WE THOUGHT THE ERA OF POLITICAL SYCOPHANCY WAS OVER, HOW WRONG!
We were willing to let the so-called Sierra Leone Civil Rights Coalition get away with their campaign to fundamentally alter the constitution of Sierra Leone by removing term limit on the presidency because we thought we must allow them enjoy their freedom to express themselves. But we should let them know that at this time in the nation's history, doing a hatchet man's job in this way is a very low-hanging fruit that only the weak go for.
We have received a copy of SLRCS's statement on foundations created for children of Ebola victims. We quote the first paragraph:
SLRCS - "The attention of the SLRCS has been drawn to the proliferation of children's foundations that are not registered with the ministry in charge; not least those so-called Foundations that purport to provide assistance for children whose parents have died of the Ebola virus Disease. The SLRCS wishes to express its vehement and unequivocal condemnation of the launch of such foundations without going through the right procedure provided by law. The coalition views such as illegal and fundamentally wrong. One such foundation is the Maada and Fatima Foundation."
POLITICO - Is it really the SLRCS's business to fight the case of the ministry of children's affairs? A civil society group with a motto: Defenders of People's Rights, Justice and Good Governance, ought to have heard from both sides in this argument before speaking out. There's nobody in this land who doesn't know this statement was really about hitting the Bio Foundation hard. SLRCS could have made that their headline.
Look at SLRCS attacking Bamie Chidi over his sometimes incoherent and half-hearted criticisms of the system. Doesn't this guy have a right to speak? Is that right not part of what the SLRCS claims to defend? Anyway, we like the way the press release ended:
SLRCS - We commend His Excellency the President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma for his zeal and courage in the fight against the Ebola virus disease.
POLITICO - Inevitably, this line was going to come. Hahahahahahahaha. The recent history of this country is very easy to understand people. Jah we dae yar still - NO PRESIDENTIAL TERM LIMIT. By the way, the SLRCS office is at the stadium, right?
(C) Politico, 11/09/14
